Topics of the Week

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XIV, Issue XXI, 25 May 1895, Page 482

Topics of the Week

NO doubt very many good people were considerably scandalised to read the other day that a seven years’ indulgence will be granted to each good Catholic who, on certain specified dates, prays for the re-union of the Catholic and Anglican churches, an event which the Pope optimistically believes to be a possibility, or even probability of the near future. Thousands of people doubtless said on reading the cable, ‘ Fancy expecting Protestants ever to join a church which professes to allow indulgences to sin.’ There is a fixed, an almost immovable idea amongst even well-read, welleducated Protestants, especially low Church Protestants, that an indulgence from the Church of Rome is liberty granted by the Pope and his representatives for the commission of some favourite sin. Personally I was aware that this was a libel, but like ninety Protestants out of the hundred, I had the vaguest idea of what an indulgence really was. When I read the cable message 1 concluded that the indulgence then spoken of would mean the remission of fasting in Lent, or something of that sort, and it seemed to me so absurd as to be worth a paragraph, if by praying for the unification of the church for nine days before Penticost, Catholics could absolve themselves from fasting or some other disagreeable for sixty-three years. Two wellknown Protestant parsons of my acquaintance informed me that this was really what the indulgence probably meant ; in fact they were certain it did mean this, ‘ or,’ they said, ‘ worse.’ Certainly if it were so it would be a scandal—if a comic one—and the unification of the church would be twice as impossible as it is now.

But it is not true. The Catholic church, so I have been informed by one of its dignitaries, never grants an indulgence for sin. An indulgence is merely the remission of a certain portion of the penetential pains which must be suffered in purgatory for sins committed, even though absolution has been obtained. It means, in short, that for certain good works done here a certain credit will be allowed against the debit balance to be worked out in purgatory. Certain sins and transgressions demand a certain duration of purging pains and penalties. The winning of an indulgence for, say seven years, means tliattheindulgence purges sin in the next world to the amount which seven years of penetential pains would have done. The times given are, it was explained, merely symbols to enable us to understand, since there is, of course, no time in eternity. They appear to be used as x.y.z. are used in algebra. The ‘credit,’ so to speak, gained by an indulgence, can either be set to one’s own account, or can be placed to that of some friend or relative already in purgatory. One can easily see the enormous power which is thus placed in the hands of the church. In the Protestant faith or faiths it is tacitly understood that good works after sin has been repented may remit part of the punishment to come, or blot it out entirely for the actual sinner, but this is by no means so strong an inducement as that which allows good work on the part of a mother to pay the purgatorial debts of her son, or a wife of her husband.

SPECULATION is rife in Wellington as to the ultimatum of those unsightly erections at the approach to the wharf, dignified by the name of ‘cab shelters.’ On the expression of disapproval by the Premier on the use thus made of the land, the pent-up indignation of the public burst forth, and the City Council is now undergoing the fiery ordeal of general censure. I understand they were designed by the Harbour Board engineer, Mr Wm. P'erguson. Some enterprising scenery-

preserver sowed broadcast petitions, appealing for signatures of well-known and influential citizens, which thus furnished are to be presented to the Council, praying for the removal of the buildings, and I believe nearly one thousand autographs have been already attached thereto, and I sincerely trust they will have the desired effect. Meanwhile, the employed at the shelters are working hurriedly, scarce stopping for bite or pipe, so eager are they to hand over the completed contract before the storm bursts and the threatened abolition takes place. What should prove the last straw in this tale of humiliation to the City Council is the declaration of the ‘ cabbies ’ that they would never use the shelter ; indeed, do not consider it in the light of a ‘ shelter ’ at all, exposed as it undoubtedly is to the most searching winds, from north and south. What the end will be no one can foretell. NO doubt it is very reprehensible in me, but I cannot for the life of me approve of the action of those ‘Christian young men of Christchurch,’ who issued forth one Sunday recently to try and obtain drinks from unsuspecting hotel keepers with the express purpose of laying information against them for Sunday trading. No doubt the motives of the young g ntlemen were admirable, and no doubt Sunday trading should be kept down, but the average Colonial or Britisher views without sympathy and with some disgust and contempt any attempt on the part of ‘ amateur detectives ’ and spies to tempt and entrap unwary persons into the commission of any offence for the express purpose of getting them punished. There are proper officers to do the work, and rightly or wrongly most of us, owing, no doubt, to the old Adam, resent strongly any interference with their duties by unauthorised individuals. This feeling exists with regard to almost any crime. Take even theft, a crime against which mutual interest inclines us all to look most strongly. Supposing one of these Christian young men of Christchurch went into some quarter of the town where he knew thieves and pickpockets were gathered together, and there so ostentatiously displayed his watch, purse, and ‘ portable property ’ as to make his dispoilment a certainty, is it not a fact that the great majority of law-abiding citizens would in this instance sympathise with the thieves rather than the thieved ? ‘ Serve him right ’ would be the verdict. Of course, had a properly qualified detective done this thing, and by disguise and ruse affected a capture, sympathy would,'and rightly, be with the law. ‘Smart fellow ’ we should say of the detective, and hope long sentences on the offenders.

But selling a glass of beer during prohibited hours is not a crime on which the great mass of the people look with any great severity. They deprecate it to some extent, but so long as the law is not broken in too flagrant or objectionable a manner they pretend not to see, knowing if they did allow people to know they saw they would be bound to acknowledge their enmity. Therefore the example of the Christchurch young Christians is not likely to meet with any public encouragement. Had the houses been openly and defiantly breaking the law the matter had been different. But to go and knock at a side door, to say the catch formula, ‘ it’s all right,’ and to ask to be served with drink for the purpose of lodging an information, purposely deceiving the landlord as to your identity and intentions, is not conduct that will commend itself to most people as either right or honourable. Dirty and disreputable means can certainly not justify even so admirable an end as the Christian young spies of Christchurch had doubtless in view.

It is a similar class of men who are perpetually finding something nasty where any ordinary person would pass innocently by. It is a similar class of young men who procure immoral or ‘ Frenchy ’ books from booksellers or libraries, read them sedulously and studiously through, and having satisfied their own prurient-prudish taste, rise up and denounce the booksellers. It is they who discover in theatrical and operatic performances hidden dangers and indecencies which we, the unregenerate, had regarded as innocence itself, or had never imagined or suspected, and they explain these things so that even if they were not there in the beginning, they are certainly created for our delectation by unclean imaginations.

THE Wellington Liederkranz held their first concert on Monday at the Art Gallery. This Society is what I may call a ladies’ edition of the long established ‘ Liedertafel.’ The initial performance, given in the afternoon, was open to only the lady members and their friends, also ladies, but in consequence of the great success in every detail, it was afterwards decided to repeat the programme next Monday evening, having an ‘ open night ’ for ladies and gentlemen. Madame Mertz is a very able conductress, and those on the Committee of Management have also proved that an intelligent woman is no mean imitation of man in a business capacity. This brings to mind one of the vexed questions of the day, particularly so here at present, where the air is heavy with masculine murmurs of rebellion and discontent at the many recent appointments of girls as clerks and typewriters to those positions formerly considered sacred to man. Both the Government Insurance and the Public Trust Departments have shown their preference for women, and there are well authenticated rumours that future vacancies in those and other offices will probably result in further appointments from the same ranks, while the rival ranks of male unemployed look on in helpless, sullen silence and ask, ‘Why is this injustice perpetrated?’ In the first place, girls are considered faster manipulators of the typewriter, are quite as expert at shorthand, and are content with a smaller salary (query, is it really contentment, or despairing acquiesence in the inevitable ?) They are also more conscientious, and having been driven to work by stern necessity, are more careful and attentive, more anxious to keep the billet secured.

The very fact that they are appointed to those positions prove their efficiency, and men must sooner or later acknowledge the fact that the woman of the present day is quite capable of filling many roles in life, of which hitherto the gentlemen have been accustomed to enjoy the monopoly. In this age of reform, when the struggle tor existence has become so individualised and altogether selfish, every human unit learns self-reliance and independence. It would appear almost as if the age of chivalry is over, and with it has vanished the weak and helpless girl, who was in truth but an echo of the man. These female nonentities live only in the memories of our grandmothers, who are wont to sigh thoughtfully over the abolition of* woman’s sphere ’ and ‘ wonder what the girls are coming to.’ They seem inclined to think that because a woman earns her own living, especially if it be by clerical duties, she must in consequence belong to the ‘Advanced,’ ‘Modern,’ so-called type, and condemns them unheard and undefended. Yet I can assure my grandmother in all honesty that no kind of work, official or otherwise, need detract one iota from true feminine womanliness in the best and highest sense of the word. It merely serves to strengthen their individual character and deepen their convictions, rather making them glory in the knowledge that, being women, they have kept themselves womanly, though work heretofore reserved for men only.

02V D/I that very few of the Honourable members of either House intend to go to Wellington e/i fairulle, private financial statements being below par. The ladies of the present Ministry have a great and bitter disappointment from a social point of view, none of them having made much attempt at general entertainment. In the old days each one considered it as a duty she owed to her husband’s position to entertain as far as she could all those in any way connected with him, either publicly or privately. Now the dignity and responsibility of a Minister’s wife rests very lightly on the shoulders of those who wear the proud title, and the Wellington public benefit nothing, and so it comes to pass that on the same people—citizens of the town which becomes so full of visitors—rests all the weight and worry of keeping and maintaining our wellearned, long-sustained character for hospitality.

And, by the way, I believe that afternoon teas are to be the chief form of entertainment this session, many of the usual hostesses having announced their intention of giving no evening dances at all, but fulfilling their social obligations by holding a weekly or fortnightly •At Home,’ when all who will may come ; the casual callers being augmented ad lib. by informal invitations. Last year these ‘ afternoons ’ grew gradually in size and animation till one scarcely recognized them as the ‘ tea ’ of former days. Dancing became quite a usual feature, many of the guests bringing their dancing pumps as a matter of course.

ANOTHER proof of woman’s enterprise and energy stands prominent in the Wellington Convalescent Home which shows upso bravely on the hill above Oriental Bay. It is an institution of which our city may well be proud. Under the kindly matronship of Mrs Rutter, and the constant supervision of the Ladies’ Visiting

Committee, the ‘ Home ’ goes far towards the true, comfortable realization of the word, and all the ex-patients speak in high praise of the care and attention received during their various periods of convalescence there. The management has been materially strengthened lately by the addition of Mrs (Dr.) Whitehead to the list of trustees. The other trustees are those who have been in office since the Home was first founded, and their interest and sympathy is now as fresh and keen as ever. The active patronage of Lady Glasgow no doubt does much to foster a corresponding interest in the public mind.

TITHE truest criticism on things colonial which I ever -L remember to have read is that which was cabled on Friday last—l mean Bishop Wordsworth’s (of Salisbury) observation that there is a painfully evident commercial spirit in our clergy, and that the churches compete like hotels. Nothing seems to me to increase the ever-growing carelessness with which religion is regarded by the work-a-day colonial than the bitterness with which rival sects of the same professed Christianity cry down every church andchapel save their own. The truth is, the profession of religion is like so many others, lamentably overcrowded. There are more churches and chapels by half than is necessary or advisable, and the consequence is they all starve, or at least with few exceptions they do. Only a certain number of places of worship should, it seems to me, be allowed in the city, and only a certain number in each neighbourhood. The present generation would resent such an innovation, for they like to go about from one place to another, but it is to be doubted if this gadding from one parson to another is good for either flock or shepherd looked at from a spiritual point of view, and considered in a purely worldly light, it is without any doubt at all extremely bad for the parson.

WHAT a pity it is we have not a Labby in New Zealand. Regarded as either a journalist or the Parliamentary buffoon, the Editor of Truth is a man who not only makes us laugh, but who does a vast amount of good thereby. Quite apart from the excellent service he does in shewing up frauds, fearless of libel actions or any of the usual considerations which render even powerful newspapers dumb—apart from this Labouchere’s caustic wit and keen satire has, without question routed many a folly out of society. Of all opponents of the House of Lords he is the most active, and certainly one of the most dangerous. His latest gibe at the hereditary legislator and at a titled aristocracy takes the form of a budget proposal for the current year. He proposes we should follow the example of China. Bringing their financial and their political acumen to bear upon the problems of taxation, the Chinese have (he writes in a recent issue of his caustic weekly) designed and carried out the beautiful system of conferring rank upon each citizen according to the amount he is prepared to pay into the exchequer for it. How profitable is this source of revenue may be judged from an announcement which was made a few months back in the Pekin Gazette. It there appears that ‘ from the commencement of the sale of official rank ’ (the Chinese aie not afraid of calling a spade a spade) in January, 1889, up to December, 1892, thirty-two payments on account of such sales had been remitted to Pekin by the Governor of the single province of Kiangsi, the total amount in cash being Tls. 96,540. The Governor of Kiangsi, who seems to have got rather into arrears with his remittances, has been pressed to hurry up with some more payments. Accordingly, he sends on two more instalments, amounting to Tls. 19,074. This makes a total of about Z'38,000 received from the * sale of official rank ’ in a single province. And the prices at present ruling are, from the English point of view, absurdly low. Here is a tariff which has been sent to me by a correspondent at Shanghai :— Tls. Brass button 20 White stone 30 Plain glass with blue feather 300 Blue glass with blue feather 1,000 Red glass with pheasant feather 5,000 Taking one tael as roughly equivalent to 6s Bd, it will be seen at once that if a British Chancellor of the Exhequer adopted this system, he could put up the tariff very considerably. He would hardly offer brass buttons, assuming them to represent the lowest order of nobility, a t Z 6 13s 4d. /‘6,000 would be nearer the mark. Let us suppose that we decided to put up * official rank ’ for sale in this country, of’course, without its conferring legislative privileges on the recipient, we might draw up our scale of prices on the Chinese model somewhat thus : Baronet ( - brass button) £lO.OOO Baron or Vioount ( - white stone) £25 000 Earl ( - plain glass with blue feather) £lOO.OOO Marquis ( = blue glass with blue feather) .. £500,000 Duke ( red glass with pheasant feather) .. £1,000,000 Possibly, it might be thought desirable to charge an

annual duty instead of a lump sum ; or the alternative might be offered to every aspirant for social advancement of either paying the annual charge or compounding with a sum down. On the above basis I reckon that we might dispose of a hundred brass buttons, fifty white stones, ten plain glasses with blue feathers, half a dozen blue glasses with ditto, and a couple of red glasses with pheasant feathers per annum. This means an annual revenue of over /"8 000,000, and in times of good trade, brisk speculation on the Stock Exchange, or annexations of gold-bearing territories in Africa, the yield might be considerably increased. I myself should be in favour of opening the market to citizens of the United States, which would mean an enormous addition to the annual turnover. Besides, these are only the higher titles. Add in the Right Honourables, K.C.B.’s, K.C.M.G.’s and all the rest of them, which would be quoted for at rates within the reach of all classes of the community, and the yield could be trebled.

‘ IT is,’ he goes on, ‘ no visionary idea to say the day would come when brass buttons would be as common as chimney-pot hats, and when every man of any self respect would have his official title, just as he has his Club or his pew in church. His title could stand for so much hard cash paid over to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and if the aggregate payments did not suffice to wipe out the national debt before another ten years are past, my knowledge of human nature is altogether at fault. ’

MAORI orators are certainly admirably endowed with the dramatic instinct, and the pantomine with which they usually enforce their more pregnant and impassioned observations is, as a rule, well calculated to produce an impression even on the most phlegmatic opponent. The Premier must, for instance, have regretted that certain absurd conventionalities prevented him from imitating the fiery Te Whiti the other day when that redoubtable chief, on being gravely told by Mr Seddon that the world was not made in one day, but seven, tore off his coat and danced on it, remarking that that was the condition the Government left him in, and that he would be dead of cold before the Government’s seven days were got over. The same remark has often been made to other Governments in all times and in all ages, but I never read of one where, despite the humour, the complaint was more effectively set forth. Mr Seddon, of course, took refuge in offended dignity, assumed the majesty of his position, and so on. And according to our ideas he was right, but how much more effective it would have been had he dashed his bell-topper on the ground, divested himself of his coat, and ‘dramatically ’ tearing off his trousers, assured the angry Te Whiti that if he were obstreperous not only would he find himself without coat and trousers, but—here a quick movement would remove the shirt —without any garment at all. There appears, by the way, to have been a lady—a white lady—present, and this might have proved embarrassing even to Mr Seddon, but what a sensation he would have created, and what a magnificent chance to the illustrated papers !

TITHE enthusiastic work accomplished by the Auck1 land Technical School Association, who will open their new school early in June, merits the thanks not of Aucklanders only—though their gratitnde should be the keenest —but of the colony at large ; for every new technical school established, is unquestionably a boon to the entire colony—a boon of a value often greatly underestimated, or at all events improperly appreciated. On the Continent of Europe the importance of technical schools has been properly recognised, and in England opinion as to their value is well known. On the Continent therehave been for many years—so Chambers tells us —numerous technical schools, supported almost entirely by the several States, housed in palatial buildings, equipped with extensive and costly laboratories and workshops and museums, and conducted by staffs of professors and teachers, so numerous as to admit of utmost subdivision of the subjects taught. Reporting at the Royal Commission of 1884, the Commissioners on technical education declare that they had been much impressed with the general intelligence and technical knowledge of the masters and managers of industrial establishments on the continent. They found that these persons, as a rule, possessed a sound knowledge of the sciences upon which the industry depended, that they were familiar with every new scientific discovery of importance, and appreciated its applicability to their special industry. They adopted not only the inventions and improvements made in their own country, but also those of the world at large, thanks to their knowledge of foreign languages and other conditions of manufacture elsewhere.

Thk great proportion of important inventions and improvements in industrial processes that are due to British

manufactures shows (says this writer) that there have ever been men who secured their own technical education when there were little or no apparent facilities for it. A complete system of technical education will widen the area from which such industrial leaders may arise. It will increase the number of those who, having the intelligence and tact essential to a foreman, have also the technical knowledge required to enable them to understand new work, and it will give workmen, in addition to the expertuess which attains for them a large share of the marketsof the world, the ability to enter into their work with intelligence, with pleasure and with ambition.

cannot read these wise and inspiring words without feeling that the colony has not yet wakened up to the true value of technical schools. But besides the advanced training which technical schools afford, it is a thousand pities that every lad at our public schools is not bound to learn a trade. There are doubtless difficulties way, but no great and good thing can be accomplished without difficulty. Granting that all handicraft trades are even now overstocked, a man who has some trade at his finger’s end besides the business at which he makes his living, will be a happier and more useful man than one who has nothing beyond his business. And then, if business does fail, there is a least a chance of earning an existence, if not a living, bv the trade which has been learned.

the way, and apropos of the very funny meetings at I’arihaka, it is evident that some at least of Maori chiefs believe that, in * talks ’ of importance, women should, if seen, be decidedly unheard. The good woman who ventured to try and pour oil on the troubled waters at the korero between Te Whiti and the Premier got most unmercifully sat upon by Te Whiti for suggesting that the Maoris should open their hearts to the Premier. Not only did the excited chieftan tell her very plainly to mind her own business and not interfere where she wasn’t wanted, but accused her of collusion with Mr Seddon. Decidedly the ladv must have felt sorry she spoke.